Lighting



May 1, 1934. BECK 7 1,957,404

A LIGHTING Filed Aug. 26, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l i E Q \l a Q k 2, U

0 In m N. Al/QVJJ/V/ smut 73a v, INVENTOR BY ATTORNEY fl i L. 'L. BECKMay 1, 1934.

LIGHTING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 26 1930 L. L. BECK May 1, 1934.

LIGHTING 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 g xd qgfli/ r Filed Aug. 26. 1950 Suva/"07,Leo LBecK Patented May 1, 1934 UNITED STATES 1,957,404 momma Leo L.Beck, Westfield, N. J., assignor to Claude 'Neon Lights, Inc., New York,N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 26, 1930, Serial No.477,970

1 Claim. (Cl. 240-5) This invention relates to devices for displayingarticles, such as show windows, show cases and the like.

It provides a new and improved display device,

a particularly a new and improved show case.

The invention provides a new and improved display device including ashow case in which articles, particularly colored articles, may bedisplayed and viewed by artificial light to substantially the sameadvantage with respect to the color relationship of the colors of thearticles displayed as would be the case if such articles were viewed innatural daylight.

The invention furthermore provides a highly economical and eflicientdevice for displaying articles in lights of various colors.

In its broader aspects, the invention comprises a combination of acasing adapted to contain articles for display purposes and a gasdischarge luminescent tube light, which may comprise a plurality of gasdischarge tubes, preferably so designed and arranged in combination withthe display device and parts thereof as to form a highly useful andutilizable display device.

The invention will be described in greater detail, and the closeinter-relationship and cooperation of the various parts thereof will bemore fully pointed out in the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the drawin'gs which illustrate certain preferredembodiments of the invention. {It is intended and will be understoodthat the invention is illustrated by and not limited to the preferredembodiments specifically shownand described.

' intensity of the various wave lengths contained in the light fromneon, mercury and neon, and neon light blended with mercury-neon lightin accordance with the present invention.

40 Figure 2 is intended to illustrate a show window comprising a casingadapted to contain ar- Figure 3 is a se'ctionof a portion of Figure 1"taken on the line 3-3 thereof. Figure 4 illustrates a form of theelectric circuit which may be used for the tubes shown in Figures 2 and3.

Figure 5 illustrates one form of the new and improved show case providedby the present invention.- This comprises a casing provided withtransparent top and sides, and a group of gas Figure 1 illustratesgraphically the relative discharge tubes provided with means forblending and reflecting the light emitted thereby.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a form of electric circuit which may be employed in thedevice shown in Figures 5 co and 6.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 2, 3 and 4 which illustrate aform of the new and improved show window provided by the presentinvention, this comprises top and bottom members 1, end members or walls2 and a rear portion 3. Thefront portion comprises a sheet of plateglass 4 retained by the shoulders or retaining members 6 and alsocomprises a moulding element. 5

Located interiorly of the casing and at the junction of the top memberand the front member is a blending and reflecting device which includesthe reflecting member 10, a group of gas discharge luminescent tubes anda diffusing screen 14. The latter is held in position by means of theretaining members 16 and bracket 18. A similar grouping of dischargetubes with a reflecting and blending device is located in the lowerfront corner of the display device, as indicated at 20. The lamp orilluminating device indicated generally at 20 is preferably placed in arecess at the junction of the floor or bottom member and its adjacentfront member, and, as will be more fully hereinafter explained, this,recess may be of relatively very small dimensions. By means of the saidrecess the illuminating lamp may be arranged so as to be substantiallyconcealed and also out of the path of moving objects, so that little orno space in the display deviceis occupied by the discharge tubes and thelatter are amply protected against breakage. Similar illuminating meansmay be placed in the perpendicular front corners of the display device,as indicated generally at 22 and 24. 5

' The gas discharge tubes shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 comprise the tube26 having a filling of neon and the tubes .28 containing mercury and anysuitable rare gas such as helium, neon, argon, krypton, Xenon ormixtures thereof. The 100 tube 26 is therefore adapted to emit neonlight and the tubes 28 are adapted to emit the light of luminescentmercury vapor slightly modified by the particular rare gas employed tocarry the said vapor. The grouplngof the tubes shown in Figures 2, 3 and.4. is intended to represent a specific embodimentof means to blend neonand mercury light respectively so as to obtain a suitable compositelight, particularly one which is adapted to 1 produce artificialdaylight in which colors and the relationship between colorsmay be seenin substantially thesame manner and with the same effect as if thosecolors were viewed in natural daylight. As shown, two tubes are bent inthe shape of a narrow U to form the four tubes 28, in effect, and are sopositioned with respect to the single tube 26 that, in effect, tubes 26and 28 having substantially the same length and diameter are groupedtogether. Each U tube and the single tube 26 are provided with a pair ofelectrodes respectively. The electrodes are connected to respectiveterminals of the secondary 30 of a Y transformer, the primary coil 32 ofwhich is connected to supply terminals 34 which supply alternatingcurrent at 110 volts. The discharge tubes are thus connected in seriesand since the tubes have equal diameters they are supplied withdischarge current of the same density. It will be observed, however,that the length of the tubes 28 containing mercury is substantially fourtimes that of the tube 26 containing neon. Consequently, the amount ofmercury light generated is substantially four times the amount of neonlight produced. The envelope material of which the mercury tubes aremade is preferably a standard, commercial uranium yellow glass made bythe Corning Glass Works and designated as Soft canary; By blending onepart of neon light with four parts of mercury light 'filtered throughthe said envelope material, a composite resulting light is obtainedhaving an intensitywave length characteristicwhich, graphicallyexpressed as a curve, has a maximum intensity in the neighborhood of 550mu. and a general contour similar to that which is characteristic ofnatural daylight.

The character 'of the light obtained will be more fully understood byreference to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, which showsgraphically the relative intensity of the various wave lengths containedin the light from neon, mercury and neon, and neon light blended withmercury-neon light as herein described. The curve designated No. 1 showsthe intensity-wave length characteristic of neon light, that designated2 the corresponding intensity-wave length characteristic of the lightemanating from a. tube made of the usual glass commonly employed forluminous tubes containing neon and mercury. The curve designated No. 3illustrates the intensity-wave length characteristic of the same vaporgas composition corresponding to curve No. 2 contained in an envelopemade of a uranium glass known by its trade name as Corning Soft canary.It will be noted that the efiect of the uranium glass screen is to shiftthe maximum intensity-wave length from about 512 to about 543 mu. Thecurve designated as No. 5 represents the intensity-wave lengthcharacteristic of a light produced by blending one part of neon lightwith four times the quantity of neon-mercury light filtered through ayellow screen as described and it will be noted that this blend has anintensity-wave length characteristic with a.

maximum intensity at about 550 mu. The heavy black line represents theintensity-wave length characteristic of the daylight standard adopted bythe Illuminating Engineering Society, and it will be observed that thiscurve has a maximum intensity at about 555 mu. and a contour generallysimilar to that of curve No. 5, particularly in the red orange and greenportions of the spectrum. One of the results of the blend is therefore,as will be noted, to reduce the intensity of the blue portion of thespectrum and to exalt the intensity greater than the inside diameter ofthe tubes and may be constructed of material such as copper, nickel,iron and the like, coated or otherwise provided with suitable emissivesubstances such as cazsium, potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, barium,strontium, or compounds of such elements as for example, oxides orsuboxides of barium, calcium, strontium and the like. By providing theelectrodes with emissive substances as described, the size of theelectrodes may be greatly reduced below that which would be permissibleotherwise and the said electrodes may, as already described, be smallenough to be capable of insertion into the said tubes without anyenlargement thereof. This facilitates considerably the close grouping ofthe tubes and the provision of a compact arrangement thereof whichenhances the practicability and desirability of the invention herewithdisclosed, which includes the combination of tubes grouped as describedin a blending and reflecting device and in a suitable display casing orshowcase.

In order to produce suitable blending and to avoid the development ofthe phenomenon known as a color fringe, the neon tube 26 may be placedbehind the mercury tubes, as more clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, sothat the light from the neon tube is compelled to traverse or blend withthe light from the mercury tubes 28. Moreover, to secure furtherblending, the combined light from the neon and from the mercury tubes isreflected from the surface of the reflector l0 and passed throughablending and diffusing screen 14, as more clearly shown in Figure 2. Theresult is that the interior of the display device or casing shown inFigure 2 is filled with light having substantially the same propertiesas natural daylight and colored articles therein may be displayed withthe same advantage that would exist if they were viewed 1 naturaldaylight:

The invention thereforfxp'rovides a great advantage to the clothing andother trades and arts in which it is necessary to view colored articlesby artificial light. The value of such articles,

particularly clothing, furniture and the like, de-

pends in many cases, upon the true relationship of the colors thereof asviewed'by the human eye, Natural daylight is the standard which the eyeunconsciously uses in judging color values and the present inventionprovides'a new and improved device in which ,the true relationship ofcolored articles may be seen by an artificial light. In the preferredform of the invention the reflecting device described in connection withFigures 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is recessed in the corners of the displaydevice instead of projecting out into the available space of the deviceas shown.

While in the preferred form of the invention the tubes as shown inFigures 2 to 7 are glow discharge tubes operated with'low currents and ahigh voltages, the tubesmay, in order to secure increased intensity, beoperated as arc discharge tubes at relatively low voltages and atrelatively high currents, as for example, at voltages of 110 to 220volts and at currents from one-half to memos three amperes, and for thispurpose the electrodes or cathodes may be provided with a thermoemissivesubstance and operated in a condition of incandescence.

Figures 5, 6 and '7 show a combination of daylight lamp, reflector andshowcase in which the blending of neon and mercury light is broughtabout in a somewhat different manner.

Referring more particularly to Figures 5 and 6, the showcase 50 isprovided with two rare gas discharge lamps comprising respectively neontube 40 and mercury tube 42, and neon tube 41 and mercury tube 43, eachpair of tubes being housed in respective housings 46 and 47 located inthe top and bottom corners of the showcase 50$ The tubes .40, 42, 43 and41 have internal electrodes 52 and are connected in series in the ordernamed as shown in the diagram of Figure 7Q The tubes have substantiallythe same-diameter and length and are supplied with current (e. g. 25milliamperes for tubes of 8 mm. internal diameter), from a. transformerhaving a secondary coil 54 and primary coil 55 and connected to 110 voltalternating current supply terminals 56 and 57. The transformer islocated at the bottom of the showcase and secured to the base 60thereof. Each lamp has essentially the same structure and therefore onlyone will be described in detail, i. e., the one comprising neon tube '40and mercury tube 42 and located in the upper portion of the showcase.

The reflector 62 is parabolic in transverse section, as shown, and hasan arcuate depression 63 or.trough so designed that when the mercurytube 40 rests therein the said tube is substantially at the focus of thereflector. Appropriate retaining bands or strips (not shown) hold thetube 40 in position. A cylindrical housing 65 communicates at intervalswith the reflector 62 through slits in the trough 63 so that light fromthe neon tube 40 may blend .with the mercury light. The n on tube 40rests in the housing 65 and by the a angement shown substantially allthe neon light that is available for illumination is forced to blendwith mercury light. Thus, a mercury-neon light with no red fringe aroundI it, is obtained. The mercury tube is made of mamitted. Consequentlythe neon light is blended with about four'times the quantity of mercurylight, the latter being filtered as described. The

result is the production of a blend of light having an intensity-wavelength characteristic as graphically represented in curve No. 5 ofFigure 1. This graph has a maximum intensity at about 550 mu. and ingeneral is a fairly close approximation to daylight as represented bycurve No. 4 in Figure 1.

In connection with Figures 2, 3 and 4, a different method of blendingneon light with mercury light in a 1 to 4 quantity ratio was shown andstill other methods are possible, such as controlling the currentdensity in the neon tube tobe about one fourth that in the mercury tube.The methods specifically described have the advantage that only onetransformer is necessary, and that can be located in an inconspicuousplace beneath the showcase or show window, as indicated at 66 in FigureZand 67 in Figure 5.

Although in the preferred form of the invention, in order to securesuitable'true color effects the neon and mercury lights are blended insubstantially a one to four ratio, as described, other color effects mayat times be desired and the neon-mercury lights may therefore be blendedin other ratios. For this purpose, the neon and mercury lightsmay-ibe'respectively connected in series with current varying means andthe respective intensities and quantities of the neon and mercury lightsmay be varied to secure the particular blend of colors desired, whichblend may varyfrom the blue of a mercury tube or the green era mercurytube having a yellow screen to the orange yellow neon color.

What is claimed is: V

A device for illuminating a display case comprising a-jpair ofsubstantially coextensive and parallel closely adjacent elongatedpositive column gas discharge tubes eachtube having an electrode at eachehd thereof, said electrode comprising a highly emissive substance, eachelectrode chamber having a diameter of the same order as the diameteroffihe positive column portion of the tube, one of the said tubescontaining mercury and a rare gas and having an envelope region ofmaximum intensity of the mercury spectrum from the blue toward the greenportion of the spectrum, the other tube containing neon which tube emitsthe characteristic orange red neon color when operated, said tubes beingpositioned in reflecting means comprising an elongated trough, the neontube being situated between the tube containing mercury and thebottom'of the trough, whereby when both tubes are operated the neonlight traverses the mercury tube so that the light from each source willfall upon the same surfaces and illuminate them independently in thesame way.

' LE0 L. BECK.

'which during operation of the tube shifts the

